


Sweepfic: Endangered

by Scourgelover



Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers Generation One
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Feral Behavior, Feral Sweeps, Gen, No Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-24
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-21 05:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/896346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scourgelover/pseuds/Scourgelover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arcee crashes on an alien world, meanwhile the Decepticons are after her!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweepfic: Endangered

**Author's Note:**

> Set in Transformers Generation One Season 3 (Cartoon).

Everything had gone black.

Arcee awoke, lying half on her back, half on her side, against the bottom wall of a large cliff. Her optics began to power up, but for a few moments everything was fuzzy. 

Then she noticed something else. She couldn't move. Had she been that damaged by the explosion and resulting fall? There was no way of knowing until her diagnostic circuits came back online. The last thing she remembered was surveying this organic world with Springer on a small shuttlecraft, searching for.........now what was it they had been looking for? For some reason, she could not remember. 

And Springer. Where was he?

She lay there for some time, waiting for her automated repair systems to undo some of the damage she'd sustained. Then her optics caught some sort of movement up ahead. Perhaps it was Springer, come to find her? Whatever it was came closer, and Arcee was then able to focus on it and positively identify it.

It was not Springer. In fact, it was the last thing Arcee wanted to see. It was a Sweep.

**********************************************

Springer rubbed his head and groaned. The blast had shorted out some circuits, and had knocked him out cold. And he had no idea what had caused the explosion. Ultra Magnus was standing over him, along with Kup, Blurr, and Rodimus Prime.

"Are you alright?" Ultra Magnus wondered, as the big green triple changer came to.

"Ohhhh, I will be...how's Arcee?" Springer replied.

"We couldn't find her," Kup explained, "And then we ran into problems. The Decepticons attacked before we could do a thorough search. We found the shuttle but she was nowhere near it."

"That means....she could be anywhere," Springer groaned, "We've got to find her before the Decepticons do!"

**********************************************

Inwardly, Arcee froze. Of course, that was redundant, since she could not move anyway. Normally she wasn't scared of Scourge or his minions, but now that she was completely helpless, fear began to inch its way into her processor. She wondered if the Sweep was going to kill her quickly, or not.

The Sweep had been standing up, but then it did a very strange thing. He dropped to all fours and began slowly approaching the helpless pink Autobot. He then came to within a few yards of her and then paused and sniffed, staring at her intently with his piercing ruby optics.

Arcee couldn't do much more than stare back. She couldn't even raise her voice to tell him to get lost. If she could have moved, she would have shot him by now.

The expression on the creature's face was not what Arcee expected. It was one of inquisitiveness, not anger or malice. For some reason it was being cautious, as it stayed where it was, and then finally lay down with its shoulders and head raised up so it could continue to observe her.

Hours passed. Then the Sweep got up and came closer, but very slowly, seemingly watching for any signs of movement from Arcee. When there were none, he kept approaching. To Arcee's dismay, the Sweep continued to approach until his nose was practically in her face. She could hear him sniffing her. Now why on earth was he doing that? Why wasn't he attacking her? His behavior made absolutely no sense.

Presently, the Sweep seemed to be satisfied with how Arcee smelled, and then he backed off. But he only went a few feet away before curling up and watching her some more.

Night fell, and clouds seemed to materialize in the area out of nowhere. It poured rain for hours, and Arcee was miserable. The Sweep never moved all night long.

The next morning, the rain had stopped. Arcee still couldn't move, and she was sure that her automatic repair systems had been hampered by all the rain.

The Sweep got up and shook himself dry. He then went right up to Arcee once again, and this time he nuzzled her several times with his beard. She did not like this at all and would have smacked him if she could. But it also puzzled her why he was acting this way. And stranger still, he had not said one single word. The only sound she'd heard come from him was when he was sniffing her.

Arcee couldn't wait for that vile creature to cease and desist the close physical contact. Sweeps were her least favorite Decepticons. To her, they were abominations, some mistake of engineering gone horribly wrong. With those heavy brow ridges, dark full beards, batlike wings, and pink claws, they looked like something out of a Terran horror movie. And they smelled bad to her, too. She could still smell him even after he stopped nuzzling her and retreated a short distance away, but not as far as he'd been previously. He lay down, but this time he wasn't watching her so much as he was paying attention to whatever else was going on in the area.

Suddenly, the Sweep got to his feet (and hands) and uttered a strange noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. It was a deep, throaty, raspy sound, somewhat remeniscent of Ravage, although a little lower in pitch. He ran off and was out of sight in a few moments. Then there was a sound like animals fighting, then a high-pitched yelp, which sounded almost exactly like a wounded coyote. A few moments later the Sweep returned. He had a scratch on one forearm that wasn't there before. He settled himself near Arcee with his back to her, keeping a close eye on the surroundings.

**********************************************

Perceptor, Wreck-Gar, Grimlock, and Sandstorm joined Ultra Magnus and the others in their search for Arcee. They started at the point where the shuttle had crashed, and decided to work their way backwards.

"We must find her quickly," Perceptor told everyone, "This planet is populated by Feral Sweeps. She could be in grave danger."

"Feral Sweeps?" Rodimus echoed.

"For some reason, some Sweeps were exiled from Scourge's pack and became infected with a type of nanoprobe that destroys higher brain functions," Perceptor explained, "These Sweeps live in packs and behave like wild animals, hunting anything they come across. They cannot speak or understand speech, and will attack anyone who invades their territory."

"So you think they'll attack Arcee?" Springer wondered, with concern in his voice.

"It is possible," Perceptor told him.

***

The Sweep that found Arcee had seen the shuttle explode, and had come to investigate something that had fallen to the ground. When he detected the female Autobot's scent, a whole set of instinctive behaviors began to kick in. He slowly approached her, mostly out of curiosity. His remaining processor functions did not register her as prey.

This Sweep had been feral for quite some time. The nanoprobes that selectively destroyed the parts of his processor that allow a Transformer to reason (like a human) had long since eliminated the specific part of his memory banks that contained the memory that Autobots were enemies. However, he'd been attacked when he had tried to approach some other female Autobot some time ago. Hence his caution when he encountered Arcee. He could sense that she was injured, and something inside him compelled him to stay near her and protect her. Instinctively he rubbed his beard against her face and shoulder, marking her with his unique scent. After watching her carefully for several hours, he noticed a familiar scent nearby and growled savagely. This was the scent of a rival Sweep; one that did not belong in his territory. He himself had been forced out of the feral pack several months ago and had just established his own territory, hoping to start a pack of his own. He ran to attack the other, and there was a quick scuffle in which the invader clawed him on the arm. Retribution was swift. Arcee's new protector bit the rival on the wrist, causing the other to yelp and run off.

Arcee didn't see the other feral Sweep, so she had no idea what had happened. But slowly she was beginning to realize that the Sweep that was currently in very close proximity to her was not going to hurt her, or he would have done so long before now.

Eventually she could move her arm a little bit. The joint creaked a bit with stiffness, since the Automatic Repair System was not yet finished its job. The Feral Sweep cocked its head at the sound and turned and went right up to her. He made a sound that was nearly identical to the whining sound made by a dog that is anxious about its owner. 

The Feral Sweep's behavior continued to perplex Arcee. She didn't know about Feral Sweeps, and his presence was still making her quite uncomfortable. She couldn't reach her laser pistol but she used what limited movement she had in her arm to push the Sweep away. A whimper escaped from him when she did so, but he took the hint and backed off. He stayed nearby, however.

Arcee continued to recover, but she was quite low on energy. She could move enough to sit up now, but as soon as she did so, she fainted from lack of energy. When she came to, the feral Sweep was licking her face. He stopped as soon as she tried to get up again. He stared at her for a few seconds before taking off quickly.

Arcee wiped off the "Sweep drool" in disgust, but something told her that this creature was trying to be helpful. Who knows what manner of threat he'd chased off earlier? These woods were filled with creatures that could pose a serious threat to a Transformer--especially one who was temporarily disabled.

The Feral Sweep returned shortly, with a small part of some robotic carcass, which he dropped in front of her. Arcee had no idea what it was, or had been. She made no move towards the strange gift, although it was clear that he understood that she needed energy. She just couldn't refuel on...that.

He noticed that she did not take the food he had offered her. It did occur to him suddenly (though not in words) that she couldn't eat it. He took off again, and this time returned shortly with a branch from some sort of techno-organic tree in his jaws. A generous amount of strange glowing fruit hung from the branch. Out of curiosity, Arcee accepted the fruit and realized that underneath a paper-thin silicone "rind" was almost pure concentrated "gel" energon. Now this she could fuel up on.

Arcee still had no idea why this Sweep was helping her. But it became obvious that something wasn't right about him. Her voice returned to her soon after she'd consumed the energon fruit.

"You can't talk, can you?"

The Sweep was startled momentarily at hearing Arcee's voice. He looked at her, but said nothing.

"Hmm. Doesn't look like you can understand me, either," Arcee commented.

The Sweep responded with a quiet but inquisitive growl.

Arcee lay back and sighed. Suddenly the Sweep got up and began snarling at something in the distance. He kept it up but did not move from his spot. The snarl grew in intensity and volume, and soon the reason for it came into view. A Sharkticon, in shark mode, crashed through the underbrush and headed straight for Arcee. The Feral Sweep tensed up, then charged at the Sharkticon, tearing at it with his claws. The Sharkticon was overwhelmed by the speed and fury of the attack, and was quickly demolished by the Sweep's razor-sharp talons. After shredding the intruder, the Feral Sweep went right up to Arcee and nuzzled her affectionately. It was then that Arcee realized that this creature was indeed intent on protecting her. So, instead of pushing him away, she tolerated his actions. 

When Arcee drifted off into a recharge cycle, the Feral Sweep was curled up right next to her, making a noise that sounded remarkably like the purring noise produced by Terran Felines.

***

Arcee awoke to find the Feral Sweep lying right next to her, with his head leaning against her shoulder. He woke up when she tried to raise herself to a sitting position. He nosed her briefly before getting up and inexplicably heading off. He was not gone long. He came back with a small organic creature in his jaws--the planet had a strange combination of organic, robotic, and techno-organic life that seemed to coexist in a strange sort of harmony--which he seemed to feel secure enough to devour in Arcee's presence. He cleaned himself off afterwards.

**********************************************

"You mean to tell me that the Autobots were not destroyed?" Galvatron ranted.

The Scuxxoid cowered in fear. "I must have underestimated the amount of explosive I needed," the piglike alien creature explained.

"Bah! Of all the incompetent...GRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Galvatron shouted, and fired his cannon. The Scuxxoid wisely fled, and the cannon blast went wild. "Sweeps! Find and terminate those Autobots!"

"As you command, Galvatron," Scourge growled, and led his pack to the planet where Arcee and Springer's shuttle had been shot down.

**********************************************

Rodimus Prime, Springer, and the others had worked their way backwards from where the shuttle had gone down, and were now relying on Grimlock's nose to locate Arcee. That wasn't all they needed Grimlock for, however. A couple of times they were attacked by strange creatures in the forest, but Grimlock in dino mode was enough to send most of them packing right away.

**********************************************

The Sweeps avoided the main group of Autobots, but detected a lone Autobot signature all by itself. So that's what they headed for.

The canopy of trees was thick in some places, and Scourge decided to land and continue the hunt on foot. Suddenly his minions froze.

"We should get out of here!" one of the Sweeps exclaimed.

Scourge sniffed the air and realized why his minions were nervous. The definite odor of several feral Sweeps was evident, and a tree bore the markings of a Sweep's claws. If they were to go any further, they would be considered invaders and attacked, and possibly even killed.

It had been customary for Scourge to exile Sweeps who had committed infractions that, while not warranting termination, were particularly unforgivable. As a result, the banished Sweeps were hostile to Scourge and the others. Additionally, they seem to have become infected with a type of nanoprobe that caused them to act like wild animals. Inwardly, Scourge and the Sweeps sometimes envied their feral brethren, as they were free to do as they pleased without having to worry about Galvatron and the business end of the Decepticon Leader's cannon, despite the fact that the life of a banished feral Sweep was often brutal and short. For even in the feral pack, Sweeps could be driven out for infractions as well, forcing them to go it alone or try to form their own pack. And if a feral pack encountered a lone Sweep--although they usually gave him ample opportunity to flee--they would most often tear him apart. It was rare for a pack to accept a lone Sweep, and even rarer for the original pack to allow him back in, unless he successfully challenged the pack's Leader. Even though the planet was teeming with prey of almost every imaginable sort, the feral Sweeps as a rule did not like to share. They could not go against their highly territorial pack-oriented programming, and were fierce competitors for both territory and prey.

Scourge realized that the Autobot signature was quite a distance beyond the territory they had just come upon. He decided to take to the air again to avoid the feral pack--before banishing them, he'd disabled their flight capability--and led the Sweeps toward's Arcee's position.

**********************************************

The Autobots were also closing in on the pink Autobot's location, though from a different direction. Springer went on ahead, making good time in helicopter mode. Rodimus and the others were not far behind.

**********************************************

The Feral Sweep brought Arcee some more energon fruit, and was about to curl up next to her when he noticed something in the air. Turning towards the source, he uttered a loud hiss. He was frightened. He stood on all fours a few feet in front of Arcee, still hissing forcefully at something above them that Arcee couldn't see yet because tree branches blocked her view. Then suddenly, Scourge and his minions landed a few feet away. They noticed the feral Sweep, and Scourge chuckled when he saw what it was doing.

The feral Sweep wanted to run, but on the other hand he didn't want to leave Arcee alone. He stared Scourge directly in the optics and began growling savagely.

The Sweep Leader smirked. "Are you challenging me?" he asked in bemusement, although he knew full well that his opponent could not answer him.

The feral Sweep continued to growl, and tore up the ground in front of him with his claws. This was a definite challenge. Scourge had invaded his territory, and must answer for it.

While Scourge's pack could easily defeat the lone feral Sweep, a direct challenge was different. This was between a Pack Leader and the Challenger, and none were allowed to interfere until a victor was obvious. And the only weapons used in a challenge were a Sweep's own claws and fangs.

Scourge put his weapon back in subspace and charged at the feral Sweep, claws outstretched. The challenger rushed to meet the advance, leaping and sinking his fangs into Scourge's forearm, and with one motion striking the Sweep Leader across the chest with his talons. Scourge cried out in pain as the feral Sweep's jaws clamped down tightly on his arm. This was a favorite tactic of feral Sweeps, as it immobilized at least one set of an opponent's claws, placing said opponent at a serious disadvantage. Scourge lashed out with his other arm, slashing the feral Sweep on the shoulder. The two continued to trade blows for awhile, with Arcee and the Sweeps watching intently.

Scourge realized he needed to get his arm free of his opponent's jaws, which were clamped on tighter than a vice grip. He slashed the feral Sweep's midsection, digging his claws in quite deeply, causing the other to cry out enough that he released Scourge's arm.

"Autobots approaching!" one of the Sweeps warned.

Scourge backed off from his opponent and looked at Arcee. The feral Sweep faced him, snarling fiercely, but staying in position, preparing for Scourge to make the next move.

Scourge stood up and began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Arcee demanded.

"You know why he's protecting you, don't you?" Scourge asked pointedly.

"No, not really," Arcee replied curtly.

"He's marked you with his scent. He's claimed you as his."

"So?"

Scourge grinned maliciously and turned to his minions. "We needn't bother to waste our time here," he said, "And the Autobots will be here shortly anyway. Let's go."

Scourge chuckled as he led the Sweeps away. There was no real point in remaining, even if that whelp who had challenged him had been handed a default victory. What would be much more amusing was what the Autobots would do when they found that feral Sweep near their comrade, and what the feral Sweep would do to them. Since it had as much claimed possession of Arcee, it would probably make it very difficult for the Autobots to retrieve her. And he could not afford having the 'bots interrupt the battle between him and the feral Sweep in any case. That could be finished later, unless the Autobots took it upon themselves to destroy the creature.

**********************************************

The feral Sweep continued to snarl even after Scourge had left. But the pitch of the snarl changed somewhat, and something drew his attention from a different direction. Suddenly Springer came into view, and a quick laser blast struck the snarling feral Sweep. It yelped as the blast knocked it backwards, although it was not seriously injured. It started to get back up, and Springer transformed, landed, and pulled out his laser pistol, aiming it at the Sweep. The creature froze, since in the depths of his remaining memory he could still recognize a weapon and what happens when one gets shot.

"Don't worry, Arcee, I'll have this Sweep taken care of in no time," the green triple-changer said confidently.

"Springer, WAIT!" Arcee shouted, "Don't hurt him!"

Springer turned and looked at Arcee incredulously. "Arcee, are you nuts?!"

"No, I'm not. He saved my life," Arcee told him.

"Are you serious?" Springer exclaimed.

"Of course I'm serious. Listen, Springer, this is not a normal Sweep. I saw him attack Scourge earlier. He doesn't talk and I don't think he can understand us. All I know is, he brought me some energon when I needed it, and drove off anything that posed a threat to me," Arcee explained.

"He attacked Scourge, you say?" Springer commented, then put away his weapon. "Are you alright, Arcee?"

"I'll be fine," Arcee assured him.

The feral Sweep uttered a low growl as it got back up.

"Well come on, we're getting out of here," Springer added, and went over to Arcee to help her up.

The feral Sweep did not like this at all and moved towards Springer with a sharp warning growl.

Arcee managed to get up on her own, and did the only thing she could think of to keep that feral Sweep from attacking Springer. She put both hands on one of its shoulders, pushing down with all her strength, and snapped, "DOWN, BOY!"

The surprised creature uttered an inquisitive growl, but Arcee's body language relayed all the information he needed. He sat there quietly, looking at Arcee like an art aficionado gazing at a priceless painting. He nosed her hand affectionately, as if begging her not to go with that Autobot.

**********************************************

Cyclonus had been attending to various duties on Chaar when Scourge radioed him.

"Cyclonus, I have found the Autobots," Scourge informed him over the comm link, "But we're going to need reinforcements."

"COWARD!" Cyclonus shouted back, then sighed. "Very well, I shall be there with reinforcements shortly."

**********************************************

Galvatron was informed of the goings on, and eagerly led a large group of Decepticons to Scourge's co-ordinates. He wasn't particularly pleased at hearing that Scourge had failed to terminate the Autobots, but that could be easily rectified.

**********************************************

This was frustrating. If Springer so much as moved an inch towards Arcee, that misfit of a Sweep growled savagely at him, behaving as if it were ready to attack. It stopped growling when Springer pulled back, but glared at him suspiciously.

"I don't think he's going to let you leave," Springer pointed out.

"Let's test that theory," Arcee said, and walked around a bit. The feral Sweep made no attempt to stop her, but instead followed her around like a puppy. "Looks more like he doesn't want you to take me," she concluded.

Presently, the feral Sweep sniffed the air, and uttered a quick snarl before turning tail and bolting. He was out of sight in seconds. As soon as he was gone, Rodimus and the others showed up.

"Arcee, thank the Matrix you're ok," Rodimus said in relief, "We were afraid the Decepticons had gotten to you."

"They tried," Arcee told him.

"Me Grimlock glad Arcee ok!" Grimlock stated, and transformed to his robot mode. Suddenly a powerful blast hit him and he went down. Galvatron--along with Cyclonus, the Sweeps, Astrotrain, Ramjet, Thrust, Dirge, and Soundwave--came down throught the rather heavy tree canopy and landed nearby.

"AUTOBOTS! MEET YOUR DOOM!" Galvatron screamed.

Immediately both sides began trading laser blasts. This went on for a few minutes when suddenly a small device, thrown seemingly from nowhere, rolled underneath Ultra Magnus. Springer glanced to where the device came from and saw a Scuxxoid fleeing. But before he could react, the device exploded, knocking every single Autobot down.

The blast was no picnic for the Decepticons either, as they were too close to the blast. Galvatron remained standing as well as Scourge, Cyclonus, and one of the Sweeps. "Gah, I'm going to rip them all apart!" Galvatron shouted. Arcee was nearest and Galvatron went up to her, grabbing her neck in one of his powerful hands and lifting her up.

Suddenly something leaped out of the shadows and Galvatron screamed as he felt something like daggers sink into his neck. The feral Sweep had seen everything, and now had his jaws clamped on Galvatron's throat as tightly as he could, while digging into the Decepticon Leader's armor with his talons. Arcee started to regain consciousness and noticed what was going on. Galvatron dropped Arcee so that he could deal with the creature that was now trying to crush his throat. With some effort, Galvatron pulled the feral Sweep off him, prying its jaws off his neck. He then grabbed it by its collar and flung it aside, then blasted it with his cannon. The creature whimpered where it lay after Galvatron's cannon found its mark.

"Scourge, **what is the meaning of this**?" Galvatron demanded, "Why did one of your Sweeps attack me?"

"But he _isn't_ one of mine," Scourge protested.

Galvatron glared at Scourge angrily. "What do you mean, he isn't one of yours?" he said incredulously.

"He's gone mad," Scourge explained nervously, noticing that Galvatron's cannon was now trained on him, "I had to exile him and he lost his mind. He won't recognize my authority any more--nor can he understand us."

This explanation did not sit well with Galvatron at all, but he merely growled something unintelligible before turning his attention back to the Autobots. They had started to come to and were now on the defensive. There was a bit of a nervous standoff for a few moments.

Suddenly Scourge realized something. He had seen obvious puncture wounds on the Decepticon Leader's neck where the feral Sweep had bitten down. He nudged Cyclonus, who had been slightly disoriented by the explosion.

"We have to get Galvatron out of here NOW," Scourge told the Decepticon Second.

"What in the universe for?" Cyclonus exclaimed.

"Didn't you see those fang marks on his neck? That feral Sweep may have infected Galvatron with parasitic nanoprobes when he bit him."

"And what will that do?" Cyclonus wondered.

"Remember what the Torkulons were going to do to Galvatron as a last resort? This will be worse," Scourge replied darkly, "If you think he's bad now..."

Cyclonus noticed the bite mark on Scourge's arm. "But what about you? That creature bit you too, didn't it?" he asked.

"I'll be fine for awhile," Scourge said confidently, "It takes time for the nanoprobes to get from a limb all the way to the processor. I'll be able to cure the infection before it gets there. But Galvatron was bitten on the neck--that's very close to his processor. If we don't treat him quickly, in his current state he could be rendered unable to lead us in a few hours."

Cyclonus' optics widened in horror as Scourge's words sank in. And there was only one way to get Galvatron out of there. Cyclonus started shooting at Ultra Magnus, moving so that he was behind Galvatron after he did so. As he anticipated, Magnus' return shot hit Galvatron. Scourge fired at Rodimus Prime, and used the same tactic Cyclonus had, also causing Galvatron to take another hit. Pretty soon several Autobots were shooting at the Decepticon Leader, landing several hits. By this time Arcee had recovered enough to get out her own weapon and she took careful aim before nailing her target right in the midsection with a blast from her laser pistol--payback for what Galvatron did to that feral Sweep. That last shot was the straw that broke the camel's back--Galvatron keeled over with a groan. Cyclonus and Scourge hurried to collect their Leader, and they and the other Decepticons--who had also just recovered from the explosion and were in no condition to fight--quickly fled.

A high-pitched whimpering sound turned everybody's attention to the wounded feral Sweep. Arcee went right up to him.

"Shouldn't we put that thing out of its misery?" Kup asked.

"No!" Arcee protested.

"Arcee! Be careful!" Rodimus warned.

"It'll be alright, he won't hurt her," Springer told the others.

The creature was lying motionless on its back, still whimpering in pain. Arcee bent down to check his injuries. There was a gaping hole in his chest armor where Galvatron's cannon had hit, but the damage was repairable. She placed a hand on his chest and he slowly reached up with his own hand and placed it on hers.

"Perceptor, I need to ask you a favor," Arcee said presently, then motioned to the injured Sweep. "Can you please repair him?"

Perceptor stared at Arcee in disbelief for a few moments. "Why on Earth would you want him repaired?" he asked.

"Yes! Why us not slag dumb Sweep?" Grimlock wanted to know.

"He protected me while I was injured, after the shuttle blew up. And he found some energon for me, too. I owe him my life. If we leave him like this he'll die."

"I'm not sure that leaving him like this is such a bad idea," Kup snorted, "The only good Sweep is a deactivated one."

"Yeah-if-we-repair-him-he'll-attack-us, and-if-he-attacks-us, we'll-have-to-destroy-him-anyway, so-what's-the-point, what's-the-point?" Blurr added.

Arcee looked askance at Kup and the others, although she could understand why they felt that way. "He can't understand the war, and couldn't recognize me as an enemy," Arcee said, "He would have attacked me the minute he found me if he did. I don't know why he is the way he is, but he's not really our enemy any more."

Perceptor sighed and approached where Arcee and the feral Sweep were. "Alright. I'll fix him. But I'm going to have to sedate him," Perceptor said, "I don't want him attacking while I'm trying to work. But I think you should administer the sedative--he seems to trust you." He got a small inhibitor-pen out and handed it to Arcee, instructing her how to use it. As per instructions, Arcee pressed the tip of the inhibitor pen against the Sweep's neck, just under the jawline, and pressed the button. The Sweep convulsed slightly and went limp, indicating that the inhibitor had taken effect. Then Arcee stood aside and let Perceptor get to work.

"So this Sweep was acting strangely, then?" Perceptor asked as he worked.

"Yes. He acts like a wild animal," Arcee replied.

"He's probably been infected with parasitic nanoprobes that have destroyed much of his higher functions. He probably doesn't remember that Autobots are enemies," Perceptor stated, "These nanoprobes are easily spread by oral lubricants through bites that pierce the armor."

"He didn't bite me," Arcee stated, "but he did lick my face."

"Arcee rules, but Sweeps drool?" Wheelie commented.

"It's unlikely you would be infected that way, but we should treat you for nanoprobe infestation just to be sure," Perceptor said.

Finally Perceptor's work was done, and even though it was a field-repair job, you couldn't even tell that the feral Sweep had ever been hit there. The Autobot scientist hurriedly finished up and backed away just as his patient was coming out of sedation.

"We should go," Rodimus Prime decided.

"Wait a moment," Arcee said, and went back over to her erstwhile protector. He still wasn't completely recovered from the inhibitor, but he did utter a sound suspiciously like a purr when Arcee bent down and stroked his beard. "I know you can't understand me, but I want to thank you for helping me," she said softly.

"Come on, Arcee, before he wakes up!" Springer said impatiently.

The pink Autobot hesitated for one moment, then planted a kiss on the feral Sweep's cheek before getting up and joining the other Autobots. They all transformed and rolled out of there.

********

The feral Sweep was able to move soon after the Autobots left. He got up, sniffed the air for any trace of Arcee, and whined in disappointment when he realized she was long gone. He had been somewhat aware when she kissed him, but it had almost felt like a dream. He then noticed that he was no longer injured. He then went to patrol his territory as usual, to keep an eye out for invaders. Although he was eventually able to find a companion, he missed the Pink One, and from that day forward he never attacked another Autobot. This was actually to his advantage, as he consequently outlived many of his more impulsive and aggressive competitors.

**THE END!**


End file.
